The present invention relates to a wind driven device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a remotely readable wind speed indicating device suitable for mounting in a position distant from a building. The device is both ornamental and serves the utilitarian functions of indicating wind direction and wind speed.
Devices which respond to the movement of air to move an object up and down along a vertical rod are known. Such devices appear, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,227,918; 2,637,928; and 2,919,577. While the devices disclosed in these patents teach generally the concept of causing an object to move up and down a generally vertically disposed rod, these devices amount to little more than toys designed for the purpose of the amusement of a passenger while traveling in an automobile. As such, the disclosed toys are not capable of producing a remotely readable wind velocity indication as is required when one wants to determine the wind velocity in the vicinity of a dwelling or other structure. Devices mounted close to an obstruction such as a vehicle or a building are incapable of producing a reliable wind velocity indication due to the local effects of turbulance induced by the flow of the air around the obstruction. Of the toys disclosed in the three above cited patents, only that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,577 is capable of indicating a wind speed at all; the other two being directed to toys which oscillate up and down a rod. U.S. Pat. Nos. 966,950 and 2,040,305 also disclose machines responsive to the wind but do not include the feature of a wind driven object climbing a vertically disposed rod to a position proportional to wind speed.